Business scholars have advocated that managers become more customer oriented, using terms such as customer-focused (Gulati and Oldroyd, 2005), close to the customer (Peters and Waterman, 1984), and customer-led (Slater and Narver, 1998). Since these terms may be used synonymously (Slater and Narver, 1995), we use the term ‘‘customer orientation’’ to describe this focus on customers. Customer-oriented firms ‘‘seek to understand customers’ expressed and latent needs, and develop superior solutions to those needs.’’ (Slater and Narver, 1999, p. 1165) Customer orientation involves taking actions based on market intelligence as opposed to verbalized customer opinions alone (Kohli and Jaworski, 1990). It means putting the interests of one’s customers first to help build customer relationships, identify market opportunities, and sustain business growth (Kohli and Jaworski, 1990; Narver and Slater, 1990). Generally, the logic underlying these admonitions is that the more businesses
are aware of their customers’ needs, the better they will be in adapting to those needs. In turn, there is considerable evidence that adapting to customer needs results in superior performance (Narver and Slater, 1990).
1. We constantly monitor our level of commitment and orientation to serving customer needs
2. We measure customer satisfaction systematically and frequently.
3. We pay close attention to after-sales service